chasing chaos my decade in and out of humanitarian aid

Magaly Licolli, an activist in Arkansas who’s advocated for workers at Tyson and other meatpacking plants, said the leaks are part of a pattern of the company putting “profits over the safety of the workers.” The company’s ammonia injury count far outpaced its largest competitors. Tyson accounted for almost six in 10 of all ammonia-related injuries reported to the EPA by meat processing facilities – a disproportionate share of injuries compared to the amount of ammonia its plants use. Of the 20 facilities that reported the most chemical release-related injuries to the EPA over that time period, five are Tyson meat plants, more than any other company.įederal worker safety inspections have alleged poor maintenance or a lack of safety training at some Tyson plants where ammonia leaks injured workers. Tyson plants have experienced at least 47 ammonia leaks between 20, leading to almost 150 worker injuries, according to CNN’s analysis of previously unreported Environmental Protection Agency data covering facilities that store large amounts of hazardous chemicals.

While Perkins’ injuries were extreme, she was among dozens of employees of Tyson Foods, one of America’s largest meatpacking companies, who have been injured in ammonia leaks over the last decade, a CNN investigation found. “It damaged every dang part of me,” Perkins said of the ammonia. In the years since the 2016 accident, Perkins has undergone multiple throat surgeries and two cornea transplants, takes six kinds of eye drops, and suffers from chronic coughing fits that make it difficult to breathe, she said.

She heard a paramedic refer to her as “DOA” – dead on arrival. When a colleague finally dragged her outside, Perkins had red chemical burns on her face and leg. As other workers fled, Perkins lost consciousness and was trapped inside the plant for about forty minutes while the gas ravaged her eyes, throat, and lungs. Then, she heard a single loud pop.Ī pipe weld in the plant had ruptured, filling the room with a white cloud of ammonia gas – a chemical used to refrigerate meat that can be deadly in high doses. Mimi Perkins’ job on the graveyard shift at a Tyson Foods poultry plant started like any other night: hosing down the blood, guts, and stray feathers left behind by hundreds of thousands of dead chickens.

Chasing chaos my decade in and out of humanitarian aid